The Bangladesh Cricket Board delayed the naming of the captain and vice-captain of the national team for the World Cup 2011 for a few more days as the Board of Directors failed to reach a consensus on the issue in their meeting on Monday.
‘We have got a few names for captain and vice-captain and we have discussed about them. We have not decided anything as we have still got some time,’ BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus told reporters at a crowded press briefing.
‘We want to talk to the players concerned. We also need to talk with coach Jamie Siddons. Hopefully we will be able make a formal announcement by the first week of January,’ he said.
Without mentioning the name of Sakib al Hasan, the last man to lead Bangladesh in an international match, Jalal said they have almost made a decision on who should be the captain.
‘We have more or less decided about the captain. But we are still undecided about the vice-captain’s post as we have several names under consideration, we have to talk to them,’ he said.
Though Jalal did not name anyone, the BCB sources said only the names of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim were discussed as vice-captain.
The BCB director completely ruled out injured paceman Mashrafee Bin as captain as the officials were unsure about his chances of regaining fitness before the mega event.
Mashrafee was one of top contenders for the coveted post before he injured his knee during a domestic match last week.
‘You can totally rule out Mashrafee as captain. We still don’t know if he will be able to regain his fitness. We will get his fitness report only on January 3. Until then it’s tough to say anything about him,’ Jalal said.
Replying to a question the BCB director insisted delaying the captaincy decision would do no harm to the team.
‘Many countries still did
not name their captain. I don’t think it will be a problem. We have to inform the names to the ICC by January 19. I am sure we will do it well before the period,’ he said.
‘We also don’t need any more Board meeting for it. I think our technical committee can name the captain and the vice-captain. We can take the approval from the Board later at a convenient time,’ he said.
